HIALEAH (CBSMiami) – New surveillance tape shows a brazen burglar who police say used a small crowbar to break into a supermarket and may be tied to other burglaries as well.

Detectives said he also tried unsuccessfully to break into two other nearby businesses as well.

“He is walking around the Mas Unidos Supermarket rummaging and trying to find anything of value that he can steal,” said Hialeah Police Detectice Carl Zogby.

Zogby told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench, “He didn’t realize that he was being filmed. He was in no hurry. He was in the store for several minutes. A guy like this, well, this is not the first time he’s doing this and not the last time. We need to get him off the street.”

The suspect is featured on a BOLO, a be-on-the-lookout bulletin, that says he is 18 to 25 years old, 5’9” tall with a thin build.

The crime happened at 3:30 on Monday inside the supermarket at 832 SE 8th Street. He broke in through the east wall of the business.

Zogby said the same suspect tried to break into another store at 812 SE 8th Street and Mary’s Cuban Café at 808 SE 8th Street.

That’s where the owner of that business, Maribel Oriol, told CBS4, “This harms a lot of people with him trying to break in. We are trying hard to keep this business running. If someone tries to get your stuff and your money, it is bad. It is a bad experience.”

“I worry about my employees and how they feel because you never know if this can happen again,” she said. “We have been here for some time and we want to keep our business.”

“These businesses are struggling in today’s economy and any loss is important,” said Zogby. “So it’s important to get a guy like this off the street. It affects the whole community. Even when there’s an attempted break in, that can set a business back thousands of dollars.”

“We want this suspect to turn himself in and avoid the stress of constantly being on the run,” said Zogby. “Look at this suspect and you see him on his knees. He seems unaware of police being in the area and unaware of any alarm that could be alerting police. He is crawling around.”

“We commend the business owner for having such a good video system and we think that anyone who knows him should be able to identify him,” said Zogby.

The suspect does not realize he is being captured on camera until he spots one camera and then cover his face and tries to dislodge the camera.

“This is not your high tech criminal,” said Zogby. “He uses a crowbar forcing his way. This is an old school style criminal.”

“We suspect he may have been involved in several burglaries in the area,” said Zogby.

Oriol told CBS4 that she saw the surveillance tape and did not recognize the suspect.

“I have not seen him before,” she said. “He was not a customer.”

Police said he should have trouble trying to cash in any of the stolen lottery tickets because their numbers have been reported to the state.

If you can help, call Hialeah Police or Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).

Peter D'Oench is a reporter for CBS4 News. He came to CBS4 from WKRN in Nashville.
D'Oench was an award-winning member of the WPLG News Team as a reporter from 1989 – 2004. In addition, he was a producer for news, special projects and...